These issues are often the body's way of signalling something deeper
In Tauranga, three health practitioners are gathering their community around a truth the body has long been trying to communicate: that the gut is not merely a digestive organ but a central axis of human wellbeing. On May 14, a ticketed evening called 'What the Gut' will bring together medical and naturopathic perspectives to help people decode the persistent signals — bloating, fatigue, anxiety, imbalance — that so many have learned to endure rather than understand. It is an invitation to stop treating symptoms as separate inconveniences and begin seeing the body as the integrated system it has always been.
- Countless people are quietly managing bloating, reflux, fatigue, and anxiety as isolated problems, unaware these symptoms share a common origin in digestive dysfunction.
- The normalisation of gut distress has created a gap between what bodies are signalling and what people are willing to investigate — a gap this event is designed to close.
- A rare pairing of a GP with over thirty years of clinical experience and two functional health naturopaths will offer both medical screening perspectives and practical home-based strategies in a single evening.
- The event runs May 14 from 6pm to 7:30pm at Matua Bowls Club, with attendees leaving equipped with handouts and actionable steps rather than abstract advice.
- The broader aim is a shift in how people understand their own bodies — from managing disconnected symptoms to recognising the gut's reach into mood, immunity, hormones, and energy.
Three Tauranga health practitioners are hosting 'What the Gut' on May 14, a ticketed evening built on a simple but underappreciated premise: that bloating, reflux, constipation, and food intolerances are not inconveniences to be managed but messages worth decoding. Registered naturopath and Bay Functional Health co-founder Lisa Pomare puts it directly — these are the body's way of signalling that something deeper needs attention.
What sets the event apart is its dual lens. Dr Trish Zingel, a GP with more than three decades of practice, will cover bowel health from a clinical standpoint — screening, early detection, and medical frameworks — while Pomare and fellow naturopath Paige Dunlop will explore how the digestive system functions and how targeted support can reshape daily life. The distance between these two approaches, it turns out, is smaller than most people assume.
The gut's influence extends well beyond digestion. Mood, immunity, hormone balance, and energy levels are all shaped by what happens in the digestive system, and many people are unknowingly navigating a cluster of connected symptoms without recognising the common thread. 'When it's not functioning well, the ripple effects can be felt throughout the entire body,' Pomare says.
The evening, running from 6pm to 7:30pm at Matua Bowls Club, is designed to be practical rather than theoretical. Attendees will leave with handouts and concrete strategies for reducing inflammation and making dietary and lifestyle changes at home. It is aimed at anyone who has lived with persistent digestive trouble, unexplained fatigue, or a creeping sense that something is simply not right — and who is ready to look beneath the surface for answers.
Three Tauranga health practitioners are betting that their community is ready to talk seriously about what happens in the gut. After the strong turnout at anxiety-focused events last year, Lisa Pomare, Paige Dunlop, and Dr Trish Zingel are hosting 'What the Gut' on May 14—a ticketed evening designed to help people understand why their bodies keep sending distress signals they've learned to ignore.
Pomare, a registered naturopath, medical herbalist, and nutritionist who co-founded Bay Functional Health, frames the problem plainly: bloating, reflux, constipation, diarrhoea, and food intolerances are common, but they shouldn't be treated as normal. They're messages. "These issues are often the body's way of signalling that something deeper needs attention," she says. The event will run from 6pm to 7:30pm at Matua Bowls Club, with tickets available online.
What makes this event distinctive is its dual perspective. Dr Zingel, a Tauranga GP with more than three decades of practice, will address bowel health from a medical standpoint—screening protocols, early detection of serious conditions, the clinical view. Pomare and Dunlop will approach the same terrain from a functional health angle, explaining how the digestive system actually works and why proper support can reshape a person's life. The gap between these two worlds is narrower than many assume, and the event is designed to bridge it.
Pomare emphasizes a connection that often goes unnoticed: the gut doesn't just digest food. It influences mood, immunity, hormone balance, and energy levels. Many people move through their days managing a cluster of symptoms—digestive discomfort, fatigue, anxiety, nutrient deficiencies—without recognizing that these threads are woven together. "When it's not functioning well, the ripple effects can be felt throughout the entire body," she says.
The practical dimension matters. Attendees will leave with handouts and concrete strategies they can implement immediately at home. The focus is on understanding what symptoms mean, reducing inflammation, recognizing how food and lifestyle choices shape digestive function. This isn't abstract theory; it's meant to be actionable.
The event is pitched toward anyone who has lived with ongoing digestive trouble, struggled with unexplained fatigue, noticed anxiety creeping in, or simply felt persistently unwell without a clear diagnosis. In a culture that often treats these symptoms as separate problems requiring separate solutions, 'What the Gut' is offering a different frame: that the body is integrated, that signals matter, and that sometimes the answer lies in understanding what's happening beneath the surface.
Notable Quotes
While these issues are incredibly common, they are not normal – and they are often the body's way of signalling that something deeper needs attention.— Lisa Pomare, registered naturopath and co-founder of Bay Functional Health
The gut plays a central role not only in digestion – but also in mood, immunity, hormone balance and overall vitality. When it's not functioning well, the ripple effects can be felt throughout the entire body.— Lisa Pomare
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why do you think gut health has become such a focus now? It's not a new discovery.
No, but the way we live has changed. Stress, processed food, antibiotics—they've all shifted what's happening in our digestive systems. People are noticing the effects more acutely now.
And the connection to mood and anxiety—is that well-established in medical practice, or is it still considered fringe?
It's becoming mainstream. The gut-brain axis is real neuroscience. But there's still a gap between what research shows and what people actually know about their own bodies.
So the event brings together practitioners from different traditions. Does that ever create tension?
Not really. A GP and a naturopath have different tools, but they're looking at the same person. The GP catches serious disease. The naturopath helps prevent it. Both matter.
What's the biggest misconception people have when they walk in?
That their symptoms are just something they have to live with. That bloating or fatigue is normal. It's not. The body is trying to tell you something.